…veils between us

The sky becomes
a dark ocean
the stars shimmering
their light lingering
where the veils
of the night begin
all gates
are meant to open
all gates
are meant to close

it is written
in the ancient scrolls
that grief
is just inevitable
not quite gone
not quite here
like myths unravelling
we are both undone
and not undone

all that we have lost
can be unshadowed
then lost again
in the passing
of endless time
the secrets and the lies
and seemingly
undoable knots
can always be un-woven
and tangled again

between the light
and the shade
lie all the secrets
and all the hidden things
we keep unseen and silent
slowly falling away
into the distance
our mournful echoes
drifting listless
upon the breeze

the night is a threshold
falling in quiet layers
the shadows stretching
and in dreams
in the quiet that settles
after all meaning has gone
we are never apart
what we were
what we are
is not bound to time

twilight is your shape
stretching
through light
and shadows
the ever shimmering
veils between us
a metaphor
a pretty turn of phrase
life and death
then and now
and in the hush before sleep
we surrender, inch by inch
© Ann Bagnall